Broken Bonds
by CharmedFan232
Summary: With Catherine gone nothing in the precinct seems normal anymore, not to those close to her at least, the ones who know the real truth. With Vincent losing to his inner beast its up to Tess & Gabe to track him down and stop him. But he's got Tori on his side, what about JT? Will he help stop Vincent? Or turn away? R&R no flames! (Sequel to lost soul)
1. Reality

A/N I do not own Beauty & The Beast! This story is a request from a reader, and will be a long story so enjoy!

**NYPD Precinct**

As Tess walked in through the doors of the precinct, she dared not glance towards anyone let alone speak to them. But one thing she did need to do was speak with Gabe, whom had been calling her non stop ever since she had left on her own to meet up with Catherine. The minute Tess walked into his office Gabe stood up and looked to her "Tess! Thank god I was so worried what..." He stopped mid sentence taking in Tess's appearance. Her brown leather jacket stained with blood, her eyes almost empty, she had been crying. But what bothered him the most was her now hollow facial expression.

Walking over he placed his hands onto her shoulders "Tess...tell me what happened...why did Catherine call you? Where is she" Tess felt as if everything around her was frozen in time, the spoken words from Gabe, mumbled. As her body shook lightly she slowly looked up to Gabe with a solemn expression. "She's dead..."

He wasn't sure if he had heard her right or if he had even heard her at all. "W-what? But...but how?" Tess wanted to cry but she couldn't she felt as if there were no more tears to cry. "Vincent killed her...he just...let her go..." There was a knock on the door, it was agent Landon, whom had taken in a deep breath. "Tess...I need you to give your statement..." Gabe let go of Tess and looked towards Landon "Does she need to do this now? She just lost her best friend"

Tess shook her head "No, if I don't do this now...its fine...I'm..sorry Gabe I knew how much you cared for her." That was all Tess said before hugging him and slowly letting go, she made her way down into the interrogation room with Landon while Gabe closed the door. He knocked everything off his desk and sat down with his hands over his face.

**Interrogation Room**

Agent Landon placed a cup of coffee next to Tess before sitting down across from her and taking out a tape recorder. "Before we get started...I want to know why I'm being interrogated by the FBI. I did nothing wrong." Dana looked up towards Tess "Your not...I only brought you here because I thought it would be more quite...I just want to know what happened" She had said softly, and had then pressed the record button. "Start from the beginning, what were you doing prior to Agent Chandler's phone call?" Tess took in a deep breath and began to explain.

**Three Hours Before Catherine's Death**

Tess had her feet propped up on the desk as usual, her chair turned to the left as she looked through a few case files while she had Catherine on the other line. _"So, what's the update? Any news about why Vincent might have taken the gem?_" Tess chuckled "If I knew why your boyfriend took it, I wouldn't be doing all this research now would I?" She could hear Cat laugh on the other end _"After what happened between us I'm not sure "Boyfriend" is the right word Tess. Can you at least tell me what it was?_" Tess typed in a few things before leaning forward "Wait a minute...according to this file the gem is really old, like as in ancient."

_"Okay so it's been around for a long time, but why does he need it so bad?"_ "Who knows, but I'm starting to think it has something to do with the shackle, otherwise why would Vincent want both?" There was silence on the other end of the line "Cat? You there?" _"Yeah...but I just saw Vincent, he went into some building and judging by how fast he was moving I'd say he was in a hurry...or on the run" _

"You don't think this has anything to do with the same people that know about Tori do you?" "_I'm not sure but I'm going to check it out_" Tess shut off her computer and stood up "Give me a few minutes and I will come meet you with some others alright?" _"No, I don't need help. Besides if he's on the run I'm sure more people would just make it worse, just fill Gabe in, I'll call If I need you_" "Cat, wait don't...hang up" Tess sighed as the line went dead. She tucked her phone into her pocket and went to Gabe's office not bothering to knock.

"Please come right in" Gabe said with an amused look. Tess chuckled and shut the door "I was just talking to your girl friend" He sighed looking towards her "Really? She's not my girlfriend." Making herself comfortable in the chair across from him she shrugged "I guess not, but then again she did kiss you" He rolled his eyes "It was a thank you kiss" A smirk spread across her face "Then why are you blushing?" Leaning forward he folded his hands onto the table "Just tell me why your here"

"Catherine wanted to know if I could dig up information on why the gem Vincent took was so important to him" He inhaled "And?" Tess shrugged "Hell if I know, but we seem to think its connected to the shackle, but then she mentioned seeing Vincent, said he was on the run or something then she hung up"

Gabe felt concern flood through his body not knowing or sure what to say in his response "You didn't go with her?" Leaning forward she looked to him "Cat said she was fine, and we both know she respects that we trust her" Just then Tess's cell began to ring, "Its cat" she said standing up and flipping her phone open. "Cat?" _"Tess?! Tess listen I need you to get down to the old docking area on tenth and Merrill now! It's Vincent! he's completely lost his mind!" _

"Whoa, whoa, Cat slow down! Just take a deep breath alright?" Gabe stood up looking to her "Whats going on Tess?" She waved her hand at him telling him to be quiet _"No Tess you don't understand! Whoever was after him they are dead! all of them! It's like he can't be reasoned with! I..I don't know what to do!_" "It's alright, I will be there with back up in less than twenty minutes and..." _"No! No back up Tess! If he can't change back and the others get here then what? He will be exposed along with the rest of us!_" "Cat if he has lost it like you say he has that means you could be in danger as well!"

"_He won't hurt me Tess you know that...just...just promise me no back up alright?! Just you!_" Tess didn't like it, but on some level Catherine was right, the last thing they needed was news of a beast on the loose with the help of the NYPD covering its tracks. "Alright fine I promise, just hang tight" She hung up. Gabe looked to her "What the hell is going on?" Tess turned to him "Its Vincent, apparently the people who were hunting him are all dead, Cat say's he's gone completely mental and doesn't want him exposed so I'm going alone"

Gabe shook his head "No, no way in hell are you going alone! Cat could be in danger and you will be to if you don't take back up" Tess whirled around to look at him "Do you really want another problem for the precinct...I didn't think so. Trust me I can handle this, I will bring Cat back I promise"

**Interrogation Room**

Landon looked up to Tess tapping her pen on top of the note pad, "So your telling me that Vincent Keller, is the one who stole the gem?" Tess glared towards her "Are you fucking serious? That's what your worried about? The gem?" Landon held up her hands "No, no I'm just trying to get the story straight" Taking a drink of her coffee Tess nodded "Yes he did, but as I told you none of us knew why he took it or the shackle. But what I do know is he killed Catherine, I saw him let her go" Dana took notes as she stopped the tape recorder "You said agent Chandler had told you Vincent went "Completely Mental" What does that mean?"

Tess looked to Landon "It means he lost his mind, he killed Catherine without even thinking about it, he could have easily pulled her up, but he let her go" Jotting down more notes Landon spoke again "And what about this "Problem" You spoke about in regards to the precinct?" Tess froze, was she being to honest? Frankly she didn't care but she had to leave out most of the truth, at least the parts about their involvement covering Vincent's real secret, so she lied, sort of.

"That Catherine knew who stole the gem in the first place, when she went undercover for you as Mara." Landon stopped taking notes and looked up "So she lied to me then? I'm assuming thats what you and Gabe meant by exposure?" Tess nodded "Yes it is, and I'm just throwing this out there, but you can't really put that in the papers now can you? Catherine is gone, she was murdered. So excuse me for being blunt, but fuck that gem. This is about Vincent Keller...he needs to be found...and arrested" Landon stood up.

"While I understand your frustration and concern, you need to understand that this will take time. After all it was only a few months ago that Vincent Keller revealed to the world he never died in Afghanistan, as such it's a fragile case. He could claim it was post traumatic stress disorder" Tess stood up and slammed her hands onto the desk "PTSD my ass! I want him locked up! And I will make damn sure that happens!" Landon sighed looking to her "Then I won't stop you, but I highly suggest you gather all the evidence first"

After Agent Landon left Tess had gone back to Gabe's office to explain everything to him and what she had just told Landon. Hoping that it would put him at ease, however she had also hope that the two could figure out their next move.

**Warehouse (JT'S Home)**

Tori had been pacing back and forth tirelessly, it was well past midnight and she had not seen or heard from Vincent, at least not until he walked through the front door. His clothes were soaked and he looked normal, apart from the pissed off look on his face. "Vincent! I was worried about you! What happened are you okay?" Vincent pushed Tori off him gently as she had hugged him, he walked over to the bar and pulled out a bottle of whiskey taking a few drinks. "Vincent...?" He gave no reply for several long moments. "I hope your happy now"

Tori gave him a confused look "Happy? About what?" Vincent looked at her angrily "Catherine is dead...so now you can go hide off somewhere else and not worry about being exposed" Tori looked to the side "But..I want to stay here with you..I love..." His eyes turned golden his beast nature resurfacing "Don't even fucking say it! I killed her because of you! Because you were so concerned about exposure! She is dead! I killed the woman I loved!"

His reaction caused her own beast to surface as she kicked him back and across the room watching him hit the wall. "Don't act so innocent Vincent! You lost your humanity long before you killed Catherine! I just made you see the easy solution! Neither of us can live as humans and you know it!" Vincent was about to respond but stopped, his beast side fading when he saw JT standing in the door way, dropping his bags onto the floor.

"JT? I thought you'd be gone for another week..." JT stood motionless, unsure of what to say "I...came back early...did I just hear what I think I did...Vincent...is Cat really dead? Did you...did you kill her?" Vincent had gone beast again, and turned to leap out of the open window. "Vincent!" JT shouted, Tori gave a low growl before returning to her normal state. "Let him go..he will come to terms sooner or later"

A/N To be continued!


	2. The Truth Hurts, But Guilt Is Worse

**NYPD Precinct**

It had been well past seven in the morning, and Tess had still been at the precinct, despite Gabe trying to convince her to go home, but she couldn't. Not just yet, she still had one more thing to take care of, something that wouldn't be so easy to do. Glancing down to her cell phone she took in a deep breath and began to dial a number.

**Miami Florida **

Heather had just walked into her apartment, ready to settle down after another long day of work when her cell had rang, she sighed "Guess that glass of wine will have to wait" She mumbled, flipping open her cell to see that it was Tess._ "_Hello" There were a few moments of silence before Tess even spoke. _"Heather, hey, I hope this isn't a bad time_" Taking a seat at the bar Heather sighed "Not really was about to have a glass of wine, apparently this new job takes more out of me than I'd care to admit. But what's up?" Again there was silence _"Heather...I...I need you to come down to New York its really important" _

Heather was confused but more so curious as to why she had to suddenly fly all the way out to New York. "Why? Is something wrong?" _"Heather I'm sorry to be so vague but this isn't something that should be discussed over the phone. How soon can you get here?_" Heather felt a sense of fear fill her, she didn't like what she was hearing. "I can be there in a few hours" _"I will be at the prescient waiting for you_" Before Heather could ask what it was about the line went dead. She made a few calls to work before gathering an overnight bag and heading out the door in a hurried manner.

**NYPD Precinct**

After hanging up the phone, Tess turned to see Gabe standing over her, she sighed looking to him "I thought you went home for the day" Gabe looked to her in question "Your the one who should be at home...you look terrible" Standing up she gave a light glare "Gee thanks Gabe, that makes me feel so much better" Her tone was sarcastic, he gave her an apologetic look "You know that's not how I meant it, I'm just concerned, why are you still here?"

"I had to call Heather" Gabe tensed slightly "How did she take it" Tess shook her head "I didn't even tell her,I just told her to come as soon as she could" Crossing his arms he gave her a look of disapproval "You don't think thats a little vague?" Tess grabbed her jacket putting it on "What was I supposed to tell her? That her sister is dead? That I need her to come down here and identify the body? Jesus Christ Gabe don't you think thats too much information for her to process while she's driving?"

Gabe glared "She's flying not driving, you could have at least given her some information" Slamming her chair into the desk she looked to him "Your right she is flying down, but she still has to drive down to the station now doesn't she?" Gabe followed Tess down the halls of the station "I'm only trying to help the situation Tess, its too much for you to do on your own" Tess whirled around to face him "You want to help? Then go find J.T. and ask him where his best friend is, better yet why don't you just leave me alone? I am fine"

"No your not! You haven't even been to sleep yet, this isn't your responsibility Tess! Let the other officers handle telling Heather what happened" She shook her head "I refuse to do that, and your wrong it is my responsibility, I was there when it happened not you! You have no Idea how I feel right now!"

Gabe grabbed hold of her wrist to stop her from walking away "Your right, I wasnt there! Only because you refused to let me come along, you wouldn't even take back up! If you had taken me or the others with you she might still be alive!" Tess felt pain move through her chest, tears forming in her eyes, Gabe let go of her and shook his head "I'm..I'm sorry...I didn't mean it Tess.."

Tess looked up to him moving from his side "No, you did. I don't blame you, I knew you loved Cat, I promised you I would bring her back and I didn't for that I'm sorry." She turned and walked away from him wiping her eyes "Tess wait! Please come back, I'm sorry!" But she was already gone, she had walked down to the front of the station,and got into her car. All she could do was wait for Heather, and as much as she wanted to leave, she just couldn't.

**Warehouse (J.T's Home)**

J.T. closed his cell phone with a sigh as he looked over to Tori "I just don't understand, why isn't he answering my calls?" Tori shrugged "Who knows, he's probably out moping over his dead girlfriend or something" He leaned back into his chair a hand placed under his chin "You really don't understand it do you?" Tori just gave a careless shrug. "What is there to understand? So what if Catherine is dead? If anything it will make his life easier, our lives easier, we can do whatever we want now, we can live normally without looking over our shoulder"

J.T. stood up from his chair taking in a long deep breath before speaking "Your wrong, if anything it's going to make it harder for Vincent now." She looked over at him with a glare "Why? I don't see the problem here" He turned quickly with an angry expression "Because he killed a cop! Not just any cop, but Catherine! You really think Tess is just going to let that go? Or Gabe for that matter? They will hunt him down!"

"Let them try" J.T and Tori turned to see Vincent standing by the open window from across the room "Where were you?" Tori asked in concern, he ignored her concerned look "I was covering our tracks" J.T gave Vincent a questionable look. "What does that mean?"

"It means I took care of the bodies, by the time I was done the forensic team had just gotten there" J.T scoffed "And you don't think they will pick up a trail?" Vincent shrugged "They only know what happened to Catherine, they didn't know about the other bodies" J.T walked up to him "And how do you know that? For all you know Tess could have told them everything"

Tori got off the couch and smirked walking up to the two "No, she wouldn't because Tess knew how much Catherine wanted to keep Vincent from being exposed" J.T. looked back and forth at the two "Vincent what is she talking about?" Tori took hold of Vincent's hand, he just stood there silently. "He means that after we killed the men tracking us Catherine called Tess before hand, stating she didn't want any other officers to come along, it was just Tess"

J.T placed his hands over his face rubbing it "That's right, Catherine didn't want anyone to witness my so called "Secret" thats why Tess came alone" J.T. threw his hands in the air "That is not the point Vincent! I mean yes, you weren't exposed but that does not excuse the fact that you killed Catherine! Or those other people! What makes you so sure Tess won't expose you for what you really are? About the experiments Murifield did on you!? Do you really think your just okay with what you did!? Think about it Vincent! You killed Catherine!" Vincent gave a cold expression before he chuckled.

"And risk exposing all the cover up they did for me in the past? All those unsolved cases? I don't think so, neither Tess or Gabe would want to smear their reputation, or the reputation of their dead friend...and what I did is not effecting me, in fact I am perfectly fine" Vincent stepped back "You really have lost your mind haven't you?" Letting go of Tori's hand Vincent walked towards J.T. slowly. "Maybe, but what if I have? what are you going to do, turn me in?"

J.T. reached for his tranquilizer gun but before he could Vincent grabbed hold of his throat lifting him up off the ground his eyes golden as he gave a growl. "Don't make me kill you too J.T. It will be easier than snapping a twig, you know that. You also know that if you do turn me in, or help them in any way that I will find you wherever you go."

J.T gasped for air, his feet kicking frantically, "V-Vincent...w-were friends...y-you really wouldn't k-kill me would you?" Vincent threw J.T across the room watching him crash against the wall "That depends on who's side you are on. Ours...or theirs...the only reason why your even alive right now is so I can find out about my ancestors...since you came back from your trip so early, why don't you get started?" Vincent returned to normal cracking his neck before following Tori out of the room.

J.T. just sat there on the ground rubbing his neck, sure he had seen Vincent's beast side on several occasions, but he never would have thought to be so afraid of it. Somewhere along the line he had lost his best friend. Part of him should have seen it coming, and yet part of him knew he was still to blame for everything. Had he not put Vincent's name on the volunteer list for Murifield's tests, he would have never become a beast. But now with Catherine's death and Vincent's apparent loss of humanity, he knew that in a short amount of time all hell was going to break loose. If he helped Tess and Gabe he would surely die, but if he didn't then there was no telling who Vincent would kill next.

**NYPD Precinct**

Tess had jumped awake inside of her car hearing her cell phone go off, she looked down to see that it was Heather calling. Sitting up she opened her phone "Hello?" "_Tess? It's Heather, my plane just landed about half an hour ago, I'm on my way to the station should be there soon."_ Tess rubbed a hand over her face "Alright, I will meet you inside" Again she hung up before Heather could ask any more questions. Getting out of her car Tess looked down at her watch, it was almost two in the afternoon. She didn't even realize she had fallen asleep, then again she had been up for so long she wasn't exactly surprised.

Walking back inside the station she made her way into the bathroom splashing cold water over her face and at least tried to fix her hair. She really did look terrible, and at this moment there was nothing to be done about the dark circles that had formed under her eyes from the past thirty two hours. Making her way out, she bumped into Gabe looking at him. "Not now Gabe" She said moving around him. Gabe sighed and followed her watching her pour some coffee "Tess I'm just here to help thats all" Setting the coffee pot down she turned to Gabe, whom had also looked like absolute crap. She could tell he himself had been crying, and hadn't gotten much sleep either. "You don't have to Gabe...really" Gabe shook his head "No I do...and about earlier.." Tess cut him off "I don't want to talk about it...not right now...its just...when Heather gets here let me explain everything."

"Explain what?" They both turned shocked to see Heather standing there, with a worried look on her face. "Heather...why don't you sit down?" Tess said softly, as she handed her a cup of coffee. Taking the coffee Heather shook her head. "No I have been sitting on the plane for more than three hours, plus I sat down driving here. You kept hanging up on me before I could ask you anything, now what the hell is going on?"

Tess walked up to Heather placing a hand onto her shoulder. "Its...its about your sister" Heather's expression went from angry, to fearful "Is Cat okay? Did something happen to her?" Heather was already having flashbacks of the time she was with Evan, when the two of them found Catherine laying on the road next to the totaled car and a bullet in her chest. "Heather..I'm really...I'm really sorry to have to tell you this...but no she is not okay...Heather...Catherine died"

"No..." Heather whispered, she felt her body tremble, Gabe quickly moved to her side taking the cup from her hand and setting her down into the chair behind her. Heather felt cold, empty. Her sister was dead. "How did she die?" Heather asked with angry tears in her eyes. Gabe looked to Tess who gave him a sad expression, before she looked to Heather. "She was murdered" This was all to much to process for Heather at one time she had so many questions "By who? Who killed my sister and why? You couldn't at least warn me before I flew all the way down here!? You had to drop it on me at one time! What kind of person are you!?"

Heather shouted as she stood up hitting Tess with her fists, Tess just wrapped her arms around her letting her cry. Gabe had to hide his own tears turning to wipe them away quickly before inhaling deeply and softly clearing his throat. "Tess..." She turned to look at him "I know Gabe" Heather pulled away from Tess's grasp looking to her "What? is there more?" Tess handed her a tissue watching her wipe the smeared makeup and tears away. "We need you to identify the body" Gabe had suddenly said.

"But why? You just told me it was my sister" Tess placed a hand onto Heather's shoulder "I know its hard and I'm sorry, but its protocol...your the only one left in the family, and we can't ask her father because he is in prison" Heather lightly shrugged Tess's hand away "F-fine...lets..lets go" Gabe and Tess escorted Heather down to the morgue, asking the medical examiner to leave the room, once he had Tess walked over to the large metal slab and slowly pulled back the sheet.

Heather stared down at Catherine's body, easily able to notice the bruised hand marks around her throat, and broken shoulder blade, she just stared quietly and gave a nod "Thats her..." she said in a hoarse tone. Before Tess could pull the sheet back up Heather looked to her "Wait...can..can I just have a minute alone...please?" "Of course you can" Gabe said softly, Tess didn't know what else to say, she was at a loss for words. She followed Gabe to the other end of the room standing by the door.

Heather sat down slowly moving her left hand through Cat's hair "I know you can't hear me...but I am so sorry...I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about everything sooner. I should have told you right away that your blood didn't match dads that night...I should have been there for you more. when everything happened...after mom..dad..I just...oh god Cat...I never should have left..i'm so sorry..." Her words turned into sobs, as she broke down. Tess couldn't even speak she had been fighting back her own tears the entire time. Gabe was in just as much pain, but neither of them could imagine how Heather felt at this moment.

Walking behind her Gabe placed his hands onto her shoulders "Come on...lets get you something to eat and some coffee...alright? Then when you are able we will tell you everything we can and try to answer your questions." Heather only nodded quietly and stood up tucking her face into his chest as he walked her out of the room. Tess stayed there for a few moments, "Tess?" Gabe asked as he and Heather stopped. "You two go ahead...I will be up in a moment" He nodded rubbing Heather's back as he went with her back up into the station.

As Tess walked over, she looked down at Catherine, and again was unable to cry, she held so much anger and guilt she didn't know if tears were possible. "Cat...I'm sorry I got there too late...If I had brought back up...you wouldn't be lying here right now...but I can promise you one thing...Vincent will pay for this...even as much as you loved him and wanted to keep him safe from exposure...I can't let him go free so i promise... I will bring him in no matter what it takes"

A/N I had intentions of making this two separate chapters, but I couldn't stop writing! Stay tuned for the next chapter! Thoughts? Ideas? Feel free to share.


	3. Step By Step

**Bar**

It had been a week since Catherine had died, even with the funeral Tess still couldn't bring herself to believe that her best friend was really gone. Though she was given a few weeks off from work as was Gabe, but she hadn't seen much of him lately. Staring down at her scotch Tess took a long drink before letting out a breath. There was so many things that didn't make sense, like why Vincent would even kill her in the first place. Or why she didn't bring backup when she knew she should have.

But what really made he question everything was the fact Vincent had shown up the day of Catherine's funeral. Motioning for the bartender to refill her glass Tess began to think back to that day.

**Flashback (Day Of Catherine's Burial) **

_Tess had been standing next to Gabe the two of them watching Heather place roses on top of the copper casket as the preacher finished his sermon. She looked broken and who could blame her? She was alone, the only one left in her family. "At least she will be able to see our parents...I just hope she's...at peace" Heather had said softly. Gabe placed a hand onto her shoulder "I'm sure that she is, just as I'm sure she will be watching over you" _

_Tess couldn't say anything and she hated this entire thing, the fact she was unable to cry, maybe it was because Heather was there, or maybe because she didn't want to upset Gabe any further. As the coffin began to lower into the ground Tess looked up to see Vincent standing off a few feet away beneath some trees. Gabe had seen the sudden angry expression on Tess's face and had gone to speak until she walked off. _

_The minute Vincent saw Tess he turned and began to walk away, but obviously she wasn't just going to let him go. "Unless you want me to open fire right here...I suggest you stop" He did, and turned to look at her, his eyes hidden beneath dark sunglasses. "I really doubt you'd want to cause a scene right here and now...we both know before you could even attempt to arrest me..or pull out your gun I'd be long gone." Tess began to shake with anger at his words, her hand resting on the hilt of her gun. _

_"So why even show up at all...why bother coming...is it because you realized what you've done...the mistake you made?" Vincent walked up to her hands in his pockets as he gave a light chuckle. "Hardly. But now that you and all your friends are so...distraught..I figured you would finally get it" Tess raised an eyebrow gritting her teeth "Get what?" Vincent leaned in to whisper into her ear "How far I am willing to go...to get you people to leave me the hell alone" Tess had began to pull out her gun until Gabe placed his hand over hers._

_"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Tess had looked to him in anger "I'm not letting him just walk away from this!" But Vincent was already gone which pissed her off even further. "Dammit Gabe!what the hell is wrong with you! he was right there, i could have had him!" Gabe squeezed her hand "Keep your voice down, people are watching, including Heather..Don't make things worse than they already are"_

**Ba**r

The memory of the events on that day were interrupted when Tess felt a hand on her shoulder, bringing her back to the present. She looked up to see Gabe. "Thought I might find you here" He said sitting down beside her. He motioned for the same thing she was drinking "Didn't know you were looking for me" Tess said finishing her fourth glass in a matter of seconds. "I was concerned about you" She gave a light laugh "Well as you can see I'm just fine...except for the fact my glass is empty!" She said aloud towards the bartender, whom could only keep his calm and refill her glass.

"Do I need to ask how many of those you have had, or how long you have been here?" She took a sip of her own scotch as she spoke. "Even if you asked either of those questions, my answer would be the same" Looking to her he mused "Oh and what would that be?" Tess downed the glass quickly looking to him "None of your fucking business" He felt a bit upset seeing her in this state and could not figure out why she kept pushing him away.

"Tess...please just talk to me" Her head turned sharply giving him a glare "Oh we tried that the day of Cat's funeral remember? I seem to recall you telling me to calm down or as you said in I quote "Don't make things worse than they already are" Gabe sighed as Tess stood up, and threw money onto the bar walking out. He paid his tab and followed her out "What was I supposed to do, let you open fire right there? Arrest him?"

Tess stopped and walked up to him "Yes! He was right there! Right in front of me and you refused to let me go after him!" Gabe threw his hands up "There were too many people around Tess! do you have any idea what would of happened if he would have lost control? Right in front of everyone?!" She glared "I don't care about that anymore! Let the public know what he really is, what he is hiding!"

Gabe frowned "So after all those years of work we did to cover his tracks, you were willing to expose him? Expose us?" Tess shouted in anger "Your god dammed right I was! She was my friend...my best friend! And if I have to expose Vincent along with us, then I will. This is one secret I won't cover up...so I'm going to do whatever I can to bring him down...do what you want but I'm done.."

Before he could say anymore she had gotten into the back of a cab, he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair unsure of what he could do. In all honesty he had forgotten about that day or had at least tried to. It was just so much for him to deal with at one time, and after Heather had filled out all the necessary paper work he had told her to go back home and work to try and move on. Of course Heather refused, she had chose to stay behind to take care of packing up all of Catherine's things, to sell what she could. At this point Gabe wasn't sure how long it would take for him to move on, for any of them to move on.

A/N Chapter is short, I know but the next one is where it gets really interesting! So Stay tuned!


	4. Digging Up The Past

**NYPD Precinct**

Tess sat down at her desk, trying as hard as she could to not scream at everyone around her for making so much noise, then again she had drank a lot last night at the bar, even more so when she had gotten back to her apartment. Going through some of the old case files she took a sip of her coffee and took down notes. It wasn't until Gabe had motioned for her to come into his office did she stop. Reluctantly she got up from her desk and had gone into his office "If this is about last night Gabe, I really don't want to talk about it" He closed the door behind them and adjusted his tie before moving to his desk to sit down "It's not, I can assure you" She took a seat across from him giving him a confused look "Okay, so...what is this about, I have work to do"

Leaning back into his chair he sighed "I'm assuming by work you mean research on files that should have been forgotten?" She remained silent and looked to the side only to have him lean forward looking to her "Look...I know this is hard for you, and it is for me too, but I need you to understand just how serious the consequences are of what your planning to do" Turning to look at him she glared "Really? Because as far as I'm concerned, the consequences don't matter anymore" "Don't they?" Gabe had asked her, not really wanting to belive thats how she felt.

"Am I really supposed to believe that you want to tarnish Catherine's reputation? All the cases she has solved, that we helped her solve? Yes most of them consisted of covering up for Vincent, to hide his...secret, but is that really what you want?" Tess wiped away a tear as he spoke, before taking in a deep breath "What I want is justice, I want Vincent to understand that I'm not afraid to expose him, that we are not afraid of him" Gabe gave a faint smile "Alright then. I'm glad to hear you say that, because I have a solution to our problem"

Tess was intrigued but more so curious to his so called solution "What would that be?" Gabe reached into his desk and pulled out a file setting it in front of her. Taking the file Tess opened it up, her eyes went a bit wide in shock, she looked up to him "You can't be seriously thinking of going that far" Gabe folded his arms onto his desk "Actually I am. Honestly, its the only solution I can think of that will not only keep us from being exposed, but it would catch Vincent off guard"

Closing the file Tess looked to him "So what your saying is...what exactly? That we wont need to expose his secret? That nobody will know what it was Catherine, or any of us covered up for that matter?" He nodded "That is precisely what I'm saying. Think about it, he is the only one who knows more about this than we do, he tracked down the others didn't he?"

"Yeah...except he had Vincent kill them off" Tess said feeling unsure of the idea. "Even so...there's still one problem Gabe" He raised an eyebrow "What would that be?" She sighed "Bob doesn't know that his daughter is dead" Leaning back into his chair Gabe nodded in agreement "Exactly, which will give him more than enough motivation to help us take Vincent down"

She looked to the side falling silent "What is it?" His question was of worry, seeing the look on her face. "It's just...I feel like it would be wrong to use him like that. I mean...sure he and Catherine had a complicated relationship. But do you really think this is what Catherine would want? For us to get her father involved?" In a way Tess was right, it was morally wrong to use his daughters death to get to him, but even so she was already dead. "What Catherine wants is Vincent's secret to stay a secret. If you think about it, she was willing to do whatever it took to keep it that way, and so should we"

Tess then stood up and looked at Gabe "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go see him" Gabe stood up and grabbed his jacket walking out of the precinct with Tess. Neither of them knew how this was going to play out, or how Bob was going to react, but it was the only plan they had at the moment. The only other problem? How were they going to get him out of prison, to convince the F.B.I they needed his help?

**Warehouse (J.T'S Home)**

J.T. wasn't sure how many hours he had been working on the remains of the beast skeleton, or the research he had been doing on both the gem and shackle but if one thing was for sure, he was tired. Sure he had gotten some sleep here and there but ever since Vincent had threatened him, he was afraid to sleep longer than necessary. "Find anything new?" He jumped to hearing the sound of Vincent's voice just behind him.

"U-uhm no...its taking longer than I expected" J.T. stammered, Vincent gave a low growl of displeasure. "It has been over a week you should have found something by now" Turning to look at Vincent, J.T. just suddenly snapped, he wasn't sure if it was the lack of sleep, or the fact his brain was literally over loading itself trying to figure this thing out, but he did. "You can't just demand results Vincent! Even if I knew anything about the remains I don't have the right equipment that I need!"

"So figure something out before I get pissed off, and I think we both know that's something you want to avoid" J.T. looked to him with a slight glare "Do you want me to destroy the remains? To ruin them?" Vincent snapped his eyes yellow "Is that a threat?" So much for J.T.'S sudden edge, he backed off and shook his head "No...I'm just saying that without the proper tools I could risk doing more harm than good. It may take more time"

Vincent backed off him and let out a long calming breath "Your making it so hard not to kill you. go on then take your time...but the next time I ask...you better have answers"

**County Prison **

Bob looked to Gabe and Tess as he was brought into the small room and un-cuffed,Gabe motioned for him to sit down and had then asked the guard to leave assuring him the two would be fine. As the door closed, Tess moved over to unhook the security camera which made Bob raise an eyebrow "I take it you two aren't here for a polite chat, want to tell me what this is about?" Turning to face him Tess spoke abruptly "Catherine is dead and we need your help to take down the man responsible." Gabe sighed "Geeze Tess don't you think you could have been a little more subtle?"

"We don't have time to be subtle in fact the more time we waste the longer it will take to end this problem" Bob looked down to the table clenching his fists in anger "It was Vincent wasn't it?" Gabe looked to him "You don't seem surprised, something you want to tell us?" Bob just sighed, "its no secret that I didn't like him in the first place, after all he is a beast..." Tess crossed her arms "And your okay with the fact he killed your only daughter?"

Bob stood up slamming his hands onto the table "Of course I'm not okay! Why the hell do you think I tried to have him killed?! I knew that he was no good for her, and had you people not helped him he would be dead!" Gabe glared "So her death is our fault?"

Bob pointed at him "Your god damn right it is! I told you he was dangerous, that they were all dangerous, but Vincent was the one man you just had to protect" "Yes for Catherine! Because its what she wanted! Because she believed in him!" Tess shouted.

"Yes! and look where that got her!" Bob was angry, hurt, and resented the two of them at the moment, he paced for a few moments before rubbing his hands over his face and looking to them again. "You won't be able to get to him directly and there is no way the F.B.I will let me out no matter what you say"

Tess bit her bottom lip, so much for that plan but it didn't seem to discourage Gabe "So, what do you suggest?" Bob sat back down and chuckled "Well when it comes down to it, he is just like any other criminal" Looking to him Tess raised an eyebrow "I don't follow" He sighed "To get a criminal out of hiding you go back to the basics...take something they value"

It was genius even Gabe knew that "The gem..if we get that back we can.." "No...if we want Vincent to come to us we need something of more value" Tess had said cutting him off, Gabe played along "Alright, so what then?" She gave a coy grin "The skeleton, without it he will never know who he came from." Gabe motioned for the guard to come back in, Bob stood up looking at the two of them "I have no idea what you two are going on about...just make sure he doesn't walk away"

"He wont..." Gabe had said towards him "I can promise you that myself" Tess said, her eyes stern, he nodded to the both of them and returned to his cell with the guard. As Tess made her way out of the prison with Gabe, she got back into the car starting it up. "Something wrong?" She turned to look at Gabe "The only thing standing between us and getting what we need is J.T. we both know how close he is to Vincent..." As she drove down the road Gabe looked to her "But aren't you two just as close?" Tess shook her head "Honestly Gabe...I don't think even that will help"

But neither of them knew just how mental Vincent had gone, even towards J.T. they weren't sure if he would help, but then again with whats been going on, J.T might be more willing than either of them knew.

**Catherine's Apartment**

Heather felt as if she had been up for days, though she had slept here and there, she figured she was more drained mentally than physically, she still couldn't except that her sister was gone. It just didn't make sense to her, the explanation Tess and Gabe had given her seemed vague, even at the funeral the two of them were acting weird. Most of Catherine's stuff was already packed up and yet Heather didn't want to leave, she felt like she wasn't ready. Moving back into Catherine's bedroom she sighed and opened up the closet, when she did a box of old pictures fell over and onto the floor. Kneeling down she looked to them with a smile. They were pictures of all four of them back when everything was okay,it made her smile and yet also made her sad. Shaking her head she placed the pictures back into the box and stood up to place them back in the closet, but stopped seeing another box. "Must have missed that one..." She placed the box of pictures onto the floor and reached up grabbing the rather heavy box and took it to the bed.

Opening the lid she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear "Case files? Why would they be hidden in her closet?" Heather thought of just putting them back but she was curious. Taking out some of the files she began to go through them, a bit disgusted with some of the pictures she had found, and upon seeing a picture of their mother and files with the name "Murifield" She became lost. But the more she dug through the files, and read them she soon began to realize that there was more going on than she was told, much more. Why was her sister involved with these case files? Why were most marked "unsolved?" She didnt know, but she was sure as hell going to find out. Someone was hiding something from her and the one name that came up in most of those files was "Vincent Keller" Pulling out her cell phone she moved through her contacts until she found the name she was looking for and pressed the send button. When there was no answer she left an aggravated message "Tess? It's Heather. I don't know what the hell is going on but you two owe me an explanation...so get over to Catherine's apartment...and I'm not going anywhere till I know whats really going on"

A/N Oooh..Heather found the files...things just keep heating up!


	5. Obstacles

**(Warehouse J.T'S Home)**

J.T had been working non stop since Vincent's last check up on him, but no matter how many cups of coffee he drank or energy drinks it still wasn't enough to keep the sleep away. But he was afraid to even take a moments break from his work and he still wasn't any closer to figuring out just what secrets the skeleton was hiding. The only thing he knew was that it shared the same strain of DNA that Vincent had in him. Which had meant at some point it was used to create beasts in the past or at least try to.

Hearing a knock at the door he turned to see Tess walk in with Gabe "We need to talk" He sighed and looked to Tess "Now is really not a good time Tess, I have work to do" Gabe looked around the warehouse then back to J.T "What kind of work? And where are Vincent and Tori?" J.T shrugged "I'm guessing they're out wandering around, and I'm still trying to dig up information on this skeleton."

Tess walked over to the slab where the skeleton laid out, and had run her fingers along it "You look like hell, exactly how long have you been at this?" Raising an eyebrow J.T moved from his microscope and computer "Does it matter? If I don't find something new soon..well lets just say I might not be around much longer" Gabe crossed his arms exchanging glances with Tess before speaking "So now Vincent is threatening you as well? Why not just leave?"

J.T stood up "And go where? He could track me no matter where I go, and honestly I'd rather be sleep deprived than dead" Tess shook her head "We could help you, put you in protective custody and as for Vincent well, we have a plan on how to stop him" J.T threw his hands up "No...no way, Vincent may be out of control but he is still my friend, I can't betray him Tess"

"You said yourself he is out of control, you really think he won't kill you, even after you help him? Just look what he did to Catherine...he's obviously lost his mind, who knows what he will do next" Moving his hands over his face J.T sighed "I know what happened to Catherine was horrible and I hate him for it, but what your asking me to do...its just impossible..."

"So let us handle it..give us the skeleton and we will take it from there" Tess had told him, her facial expression serious, stern. J.T was shocked were they that stupid? "Are you both out of your mind? If I let you take it he will kill me then come after you!"

Gabe moved towards J.T "No he won't because we will have what he values most. Without the skeleton he wont know where he came from, and that is our leverage. Its either that or the alternative" "Alternative? You mean expose him?" J.T had asked.

They both nodded "Fine...I will say I stepped out and don't know what happened to it, but I will need to trash the place" Tess looked to J.T "I don't think that will work...since he's pretty much like a walking lie detector, he will know it was all a lie" Tess had said.

Gabe thought for a few moments "Just wear a ski mask and gloves and of course a different outfit...its the only chance you will have" J.T nodded "Fine but you both need to leave right now I will bring it to you later..." Tess and Gabe nodded but Tess hugged J.T tightly "Be careful...I don't want to lose you either" J.T hugged her back before reassuring her he would be okay. The two then left, hoping that their plan would work.

As they got back into the car Tess looked down at her phone before flipping it open and listening to her voice mail, she sighed and tucked her phone away "Damn..." Gabe looked to her as he drove "What is it?" She looked over at him "It was Heather, she sounded pissed, she wants us to meet her at Catherine's apartment" Gabe turned down the street "What do you think its about?" Tess shrugged "I'm not sure, but we better go talk to her"

**(Catherine's Apartment) **

Heather had been sitting in the kitchen staring blankly at the files in front of her, drinking more of her wine she refilled the empty glass. "Its open" She called out to a knock at the front door, Tess and Gabe walked in looking to her. "You wanted to speak to us?" Tess had said looking to Heather, whom seem less pleased to see the two.

"You have a lot of nerve lying to my face, both of you" Gabe raised an eyebrow "What are you talking about Heather" Heather stood up picking up the files and slamming them down "This! These are what I am talking about!" Tess took in a deep breath and walked over to see the files spread out on the counter in front of Heather. "Gabe..." Tess had said softly, motioning for him to come over. Gabe looked down at the files and ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh.

"Heather there is a lot here you really don't understand and honestly I'm not sure you really want to know" Heather looked to Tess with an angry glare, "Really Tess!? Because I think I do! Why the hell was my sister, hiding these files! More importantly why is Vincent in so many of these cases and files?" Tess held up her hands speaking slowly "Alright, your right you do deserve to know but right now is not the best time"

Heather finished her glass of wine and closed up the files putting them into the box "Fine, if you wont explain this to me then maybe someone else at the precinct will" Gabe stepped in front of Heather and took the box "You don't understand Heather, you can't let anyone else see these files" She glared "Why not! what is the big secret, I mean experiments? , Murifield, my mother? Whats all that about? I mean I know she was involved, but what about Catherine?"

Setting the box aside Gabe motioned for Heather to sit on the couch, once she did Gabe and Tess sat on either side of her. Both Gabe and Tess had begun to explain everything to Heather, about how Catherine first came across Vincent and how he had saved her life the night their mother died. It had seemed like hours to Heather as they explained everything but in actuality had only been several minutes or more.

Heather didn't know what to say, she stood up and walked over to the bottle of wine and just drank out of it. It was all too much for her to process, the fact that her sister was dating Vincent on and off, about how he was a good man at one point and had been turned into a beast. "Are you okay?" Tess had asked softly, though she knew that with everything that had been going on that Heather was far from okay.

"No...I just don't understand, I mean if they were so in love then why would he kill her?" Gabe sighed "Well I can't tell you that, because Tess and I don't understand it either. He just lost his way, his humanity"

"And my mother?" Tess stood up and looked to her "Your mother left Murifield, she didn't want to take part in it anymore...not when she realized they were going to kill them but they tracked her down and killed her anyway" Heather frowned "That's the night Catherine was with her...the night Vincent saved Catherine as well" She sighed, it was so confusing.

Gabe moved beside Tess looking to Heather "I can assure you, we will make sure he gets put away, but for the time being you need to keep all of this to yourself" Heather just nodded "Yeah fine...whatever I just need to be alone alright?" They nodded and Tess motioned for Gabe to follow her, he walked out and closed the door behind them, looking to Tess.

"Do you think we can trust her?" Tess gave a slight glare to Gabe "I honestly don't think she will blow our cover...or what her sister did." He hoped she was right, the last thing they needed was for all hell to break loose in the precinct.

A/N To Be Continued.


End file.
